New Delhi: The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, to be hosted jointly by the Maldives and Sri Lanka, has been postponed to May 2008.

The tournament was originally scheduled for December 2007.

Speaking to The Telegraph, All India Football Federation (AIFF) secretary Alberto Colaco said that the tournament had been postponed following a request by India.

“Our Professional League would be in progress at that time. It would be difficult for us to send the team that time,” said Colaco who attended the SAFF meeting in Colombo recently.

India won the last edition of the meet, held in Pakistan two years back, defeating Bangladesh 2-0.